Child Custody and Fathers in Australia

F4E are a fair, progressive child custody, shared parenting family-law group comprising primarily parents and grandparents who believe that a child has a natural right to a meaningful relationship with both parents, in the event of separation. We provide information and assistance on the current family law act and how to best utilise it in the best interests of your children, and we lobby the federal government against the myths promoted by self-interest lawyers and feminist groups in their efforts to take Australia back to the dark ages, at our children’s expense. Please read the information on this website carefully before engaging in any child custody negotiations, and if possible, subscribe to our daily Blog post for useful updates.

In Australia, the term “child custody” has been deleted from the legal vernacular, however it is still the most common term used to describe family law matters relating to children. Other common references in Australia relating to the issue of child custody include: child residence, child access, visitation, shared custody, joint custody and sole custody.

The 2006 amended family law act makes reference to none of these terms, preferring instead to focus on “lives with” as a reference to the primary parent, and “spends time with” as a reference to the old non-custodial parent. Further terminology introduced by the 2006 family law amendments include; family relationship centres, post-separation parenting classes, rebuttable presumption of equal shared parental responsibility, equal shared care and equal parenting time. Terminology un-touched by the amendments and used in the same manner as prior to the changes include; independent children’s lawyer,child psychologist, family report, single mother, single parent, sole parent, child alienation, parental alienation, child alignment, and “best interests of the child”. Terminology starting to become more prominent in family law in Australia include; same sex parenting and non-biological mother.

Sign the Child Custody – Shared Parenting Petition

Current Number of Signatures: 6999

Let Australia’s politicians know what the overwhelming majority of Australians want. Sign the petition and state your support for a legislated presumption of 50/50 joint residence (equal parenting) in the event of separation, as a starting point.

Yes, every divorce is unique, which is why the Court’s are apparently afforded wide discretion to make Orders that reflect the individual circumstances of that case.

However, hard as it is for us to accept sometimes, the overwhelming majority of issues dealt with in every litigated divorce in this country, in particular those involving children, have been played out repeatedly in front of our Family Courts, more often than not with similar results.

So, what does this mean for a father who is contemplating going to Court over a child custody or property matter?

Well, it means that you can save yourself a lot of money and heart-ache if you can track down a published Court or Tribunal decision similar in circumstances to your situation. Whatever the outcome was in that case, will more likely than not be the case in your situation, all other things being equal.

So, use this free information to help set your expectations now, before you spend tens of thousands of dollars only to find out you never had a chance to begin with.

Single Dad or Non-resident parent? Help us fix family law! Sign the .. ‘Strength in Numbers’ Register..NOW!

Do you know that there are over 1 million non-resident parents (of children under 18 y/o) in Australia? And this figure is growing by 50,000 every year.

Despite these huge numbers, successive governments have continued to ignore the serious plight of non-resident parents, in particular that of fathers who are regularly denied contact with their children simply because they have divorced.

However, we are a Majority, we have a Voice, and we have Strength in Numbers.

Sign the F4E Strength in Numbers Register now! Its free and nothing is required of you, but every person who signs helps us send an even louder message to Canberra that the silent majority have numbers and we have a voice, and we intend to use it!

Australians Overwhelmingly Support Equal Parenting

On average, 80% to 90% of Australian believe that there should be a legislated presumption of 50/50 shared residence, in the event of separation.